A/HRC/30/19 I. Introduction 1. The first substantive right provided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in its article 3, is the right to life, liberty and security of person. As stressed by the Human Rights Committee in paragraph 2 of its general comment No. 35, on article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the right to liberty and security of person is precious for its own sake, and also because the deprivation of liberty and security of person have historically been principal means for impairing the enjoyment of other rights.1 2. While the right to liberty of person is not an absolute right, any deprivation of liberty must not be arbitrary and must be carried out with respect for the rule of law.2 As affirmed by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 24/12, detainees retain all of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, except for those lawful limitations that are demonstrably necessitated by the fact of incarceration. 3. According to recent statistics, more than 10.2 million people around the world are deprived of their liberty, 3 about 3 million of whom are awaiting trial.4 Data further suggests that the number of prisoners exceeds official prison capacity in at least 114 countries, and that prisons in 92 of these countries hold between 100 and 200 per cent of their capacity, while 22 hold over double, even triple or nearly quadruple their capacity.5 The levels of overcrowding in places of deprivation of liberty around the world have been described as endemic,6 alarming,7 extreme,8 chronic9 and outrageous,10 and are said to be an indicator of, and contributor to, the global prison crisis.11 4. The phenomena of overcrowding and overincarceration are inherently intertwined. The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment stated that “[t]he negative impact of the overuse of incarceration on human rights is manifold. The overuse of imprisonment constitutes one of the major underlying causes of overcrowding, which results in conditions that amount to ill-treatment or even torture”.12 Furthermore, numerous United Nations bodies and mechanisms, including the Security Council,13 the Human Rights Committee,14 the Committee against Torture,15 the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture,16 the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention 17 and 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 See CCPR/C/GC/35, para. 2. See ibid., para 10. See Roy Walmsley, World Prison Population List, 10th edition (London, International Centre for Prison Studies, 2013). See Roy Walmsley, World Pre-trial/Remand Imprisonment List, 2nd edition (London, International Centre for Prison Studies, 2014). See International Centre for Prison Studies, Highest to Lowest-Occupancy level (based on official capacity) (London, 2014). See CAT/OP/MLI/1, para. 49. See A/HRC/22/53/Add.2, para. 81; CAT/OP/BRA/1, para. 96. See CAT/OP/BEN/1, para. 147. See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16033&LangID=E. See Council of Europe document CPT/Inf (2015) 6, para. 57. See A/65/273, para. 1. See A/68/295, para. 86. See, for example, Security Council resolution 2180 (2014), para. 16. See, for example, CAT/C/RWA/CO/1, para. 19, and CAT/C/TGO/CO/2, para. 13. See, for example, CAT/OP/HND/1, para. 198. See CAT/OP/MLI/1, para. 49; CAT/OP/MEX/1, para. 177; and CAT/OP/BEN/1, para. 147. See, for example, A/HRC/10/21, para. 42, and A/HRC/27/48, paras. 72-74. 3